[suren181]

Caught a glimpse of the OHV Badges on a car in Kerala and thought uploading them here for what it's worth. The driver/owner of the car told me these are original ones, which I am not too sure of.

Am posting these as there was a discussion on these labels a few pages before.

[karlosdeville]

Great find there! I havent seen that style of badge before though. Most probably aftermarket items.

Is that car running yellow plates? Is it a period number?

[JayD]

great find Suren!! The badge at the rear looks like the one i remember, but it should be on the Right side where dukkars usually have "fiat 1100" logos. Haven't seen the ones on the side before though.

P.S: Is this a Trivandrum car??

[X-Machine]

This Austin has been rusting since quite a long time. Pretty sad state.

X

[V-16]

@ Suren181- that OHV badge is something i have not seen. Its IMHO not original but fabricated. I have not seen an OHV badge with an arrow. Secondly the one on the rear is probably the closest to the real thing but then again I have not seen one with wings on both sides of the emblem.
Ram, what do you have to say??\

Originally Posted by X-Machine

This Austin has been rusting since quite a long time. Pretty sad state.

X

Its also for sale if anyone is interested. The lights have been removed and kept. Will go soon if anyone wants it.

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by X-Machine

This Austin has been rusting since quite a long time. Pretty sad state.

X

This is at Dadar right? It never used to be so bad. Here it is in 2006.

[suren181]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

Great find there! I havent seen that style of badge before though. Most probably aftermarket items.

Is that car running yellow plates? Is it a period number?

Yes Karl the car was sporting Yellow number plates and was a Private Taxi I guess. Regarding the period number, am not too sure. The car was manufactured in 1962 though.

Originally Posted by JayD

great find Suren!! The badge at the rear looks like the one i remember, but it should be on the Right side where dukkars usually have "fiat 1100" logos. Haven't seen the ones on the side before though.

P.S: Is this a Trivandrum car??

Jay that was spotted in Palghat.

Originally Posted by V-16

@ Suren181- that OHV badge is something i have not seen. Its IMHO not original but fabricated. I have not seen an OHV badge with an arrow. Secondly the one on the rear is probably the closest to the real thing but then again I have not seen one with wings on both sides of the emblem.
Ram, what do you have to say??\

Gogi I am unsure about the authenticity of that badge too. However I did spot yet another car with the same logos on it during this trip.

Am attaching snaps of yet another beauty spotted in Kerala. Amongst these the best car was the immaculate Landmaster that I saw near Tellicherry (in Kerala) unfortunately pics of which I could not take.

[GTO]

Hi Suren,

On Karls request, I have copied your post to the Indian built Classics thread.

[Ram]

Friends, USA is the country with the world's most plentiful car users.
So, it's also the country with the world's largest number of rusting in pieces, disintegrating cars.

But even there, one finds residential neighborhoods with social norms
that obviate seeing a single disintegrating or even rusting car.

In January 1985, I had started my overseas innings with an assignment at Los Gatos, California.

I found an residential apartment at Lincoln-Gate Apartments at 245, Union Avenue, Campbell, CA, 3 miles NE of my office.

While the location was convenient, the apartment management company's expectations were culture-shock to my Indian sensibilities,

Among the rental contract clauses were:

1) Whatever color curtains you use, ensure the curtains facing outside are white. The architect who designed these buildings intended them to have white curtains.

2) You may not wash your car in the row of parking shelters where you have been assigned a slot. The soapy water running away from the cars spoils the picturesque beauty of our landscape.

3) You many not open the hood and work on or under your car on the premises. Defective or old cars ruin the look of our neighborhood and affect the neighborhood's real-estate prices. Call a tow truck company to remove your car out of our premises if your car develops a defect.

The very occasional car found dusty or dirty, would become object of skirmish between renter and the company, which usually ended badly for the renter.

...and these were middle-class apartments where pre-boom Silicon Valley engineers like me lived.

Ram

[Ram]

Originally Posted by V-16

@ Suren181- that OHV badge is something i have not seen. Its IMHO not original but fabricated. I have not seen an OHV badge with an arrow. Secondly the one on the rear is probably the closest to the real thing but then again I have not seen one with wings on both sides of the emblem.
Ram, what do you have to say??

You're right Gogi.

I like to think, I have a photographic memory and I don't remember seeing the arrows either. The arrows are a strong icon and would not be forgotten if seen before.

The badge (per my memory) was a chromium-plated italic OHV script with three tilde like horizontal curvy tails on the trailing side of the OHV only.

Also I can attest to not having seen a badge with wings on both sides of the emblem.

Can't argue with a palpable artifact. Maybe they are aftermarket. It has certainly been a long time for the misty images lingering in memories.

Ram

[suren181]

Thanks for that GTO and thanks to you Karl for pointing this out to the correct thread

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by ram

Can't argue with a palpable artifact. Maybe they are aftermarket. It has certainly been a long time for the misty images lingering in memories.

Well, lets agree on one thing - ALL these OHV badges were probably after market. Eyewitness testimony says they were positioned in atleast 3 different places with atleast 3 different designs. I went through the 61-62 and 63-64 parts catalogue (both mark 1) and it has no mention of it at all. Either ways, to me they look very period cool, and I would love to have a few for my Amby.

[Ram]

Originally Posted by suren181

Yes Karl the car was sporting Yellow number plates and was a Private Taxi I guess. Regarding the period number, am not too sure. The car was manufactured in 1962 though.
Jay that was spotted in Palghat.

1. If they were period plates, how could they be yellow - a recent phenomenon.
   IMHO period plates should have had white letters against a black background.
   .
2. Isn't it sacrilege to use such an elderly institution as a private taxi ?

Ram

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by ram

If they were period plates, how could they be yellow - a recent phenomenon.

IMHO period plates should have had white letters against a black background.
.Isn't it sacrilege to use such an elderly institution as a private taxi ?

Ram

What I meant was the number itself. For example in Pune "MHQ" was a commercial series in use in the 70s. Black letters on a white plate. When the new norms came into play, the number remained the same, but now on a yellow plate.

This car has a KLP registration, which I think is correct for a 60s commercial vehicle (I could be wrong, can someone correct me?) So in all probability it has been a private taxi all its life. Its remarkable how well the car is preserved. Suren, were these dieselised?

Now can we continue further discussions in the relevant threads?

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by ram

Friends, USA is the country with the world's most plentiful car users.
So, it's also the country with the world's largest number of rusting in pieces, disintegrating cars.

But even there, one finds residential neighborhoods with social norms
that obviate seeing a single disintegrating or even rusting car.

I am of the opinion that if MY vehicle is parked in MY parking spot, I can do as I please with it without inconvinienceing others (by making noise, bellowing smoke, infestations, smells etc). An ugly car is no reason to clamp down. Infact I have always wanted to enclose my stilt parking spots with a fence and screening, but havent been allowed permission.

Certain neighbours at my earlier residence had issues with my "forlorn" looking cars. My response to them was to purchase and park these two beauties right in front of them